Whistling Train Farm

It’s so exciting to start a fresh, new year! This week is just a little preview of the true CSA season that will start in a few weeks. When I do farm walks, I do a visual inventory of what might be harvestable for all 150 families in the upcoming week. I’ve been watching and evaluating the last few weeks, and when I could finally identify five harvestable items, I made the decision to do a Bonus harvest. Five seems like a reasonable number to expect that people will want to come and pick up; the minimum number of items, I think, to justify a trip to the farm or pick up location. And since I’m no longer going to a farmers’ market, the CSA gets everything.

All of the items that are ready now have been in the ground since last fall. I did the last plantings in September of 2020, and they’ve been chilling and/or growing since then. I’ve listed the items in your share above, and included clickable links to the things you may need help learning how to prepare.

Other exciting news at the farm:

You may have followed the planting of the farm’s acre of native habitat. Emily and I planted all the trees several weeks ago when they were ready to pick up. 300+ native conifer and deciduous trees, and flowering and fruiting shrubs. (Actually, she did most of the planting, and I did the fence removal and marking of flags). In the years to come, they will provide habitat and home for the wild birds and mammals that already call Whistling Train Farm home, and I’m hopeful that it will attract even more species as it matures. You may or may not know that the farm is an Audubon Hot Spot, and we’ve begun to attract a flock of active birders.

In response to interest from aspiring and experienced birders, we will soon be setting up a Birder Station, with birding maps, a weekly Bird List (species seen on the farm and where to likely find them), tips for identification, a sign-in station, and (as suggested by birders) a birdseed fund donation jar. Everyone who visits the farm is welcome to participate, and I’m really excited to share my urban wildlife oasis with anyone who is interested.

The propagation house is filling up with seedlings, and the other greenhouses have all been planted with early crops: Peas, Carrots, Salad Turnips, Radishes, Spinach, Arugula, Cilantro, and Chervil. Already I’ve planned the next successions of crops that will follow those early things… like the first Snap Beans and Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Peppers. This week looks dry, after today, and I’m hoping to get the first outdoor crops planted, including Fava Beans, the first outdoor peas, beets and turnips, spinach, kale, chard, broccoli, and so many more.

I’m very excited about the new, improved CSA U-Pick Garden! It’s going to be bigger and better than ever before, with tidy beds of many herbs and flowers that should last from early June and into October. Bush peas and beans will go in as soon as we can get the ground ready, and the Pumpkin Patch will be right next door to the flowers so you can watch them grow. I’m also excited about repeating the glorious Sunflower Patch, and planting two varieties to extend the glory for several more weeks.

I’m really pleased to have been forced into this new CSA-Only farm model, and to have a better idea what to expect as the season gets going. Unlike the chaos of last spring, where every week was a different experiment in marketing and producing food, this year feels much more stable and satisfying already. The FarmStand will open May 1, with seasonal fruits and vegetables from very local farms. And if you haven’t pre-ordered your garden plant start kids, be sure to do it soon. Pick up will happen the weekend of April 17. In just three weeks you can have a full garden of the same varieties that I’m growing here on the farm, and you can choose from vegetables, companion flowers, or culinary herbs. Click here to pre-order from the online FarmStand.

I hope you are looking forward to this season as much as I am. It’s going to be a great one!

More to come…

Quick update here:

The warmer weather has made it possible to do CSA harvest this week! You can look forward to baby heads of Cauliflower, red and green Butter Lettuces, fresh Herbs, and more!

The regularly-scheduled, in-depth Newsletter Post will happen this weekend.

Happy Spring! 🌻

Clockwise from Top Left: Italian Parsley, Green Garlic, Chives, Kale Broccolini, Thyme, Purple Radishes, Purple Sprouting Broccoli

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• Purple Sprouting Broccoli
• Kale Broccolini
• Green Garlic
• Purple Radishes (try making pesto with the tender greens!)
• Chives
• Italian Parsley (not in Mini Shares)
• Fresh Thyme (Large Shares only)

COMING SOON: Salad Turnips, Green Shallots, Spinach, Stir-Fry Greens, Pea Shoots, Lettuces

I plant the seeds for this broccoli in July, put the plants out in August, and then we wait. In April, if all goes well, we are rewarded with a bounty of purple deliciousness.

In a normal season, I would be prepping to go to my first farmers market of the year. At some point I may be back at West Seattle, but that will be largely up to the Farmers Market Association and the mayor of Seattle. I am working on opening a FARM STAND, and I’ll be offering fruit and eggs, and some vegetables that I don’t grow, in addition to the things we grow right here.

Some things are ready now, in April: the Purple Sprouting Broccoli, the Green Garlic, Green Shallots. I have Kale, Italian Parsley, Thyme, Chives. All of these things have survived the winter. Radishes are ready in one of the greenhouses, Salad Turnips are coming along, as well as lettuce, spinach, and stir-fry greens.

Anyone can have red radishes from the store… I choose purple.

As the chaos of Coronavirus hit us here, the weather changed. And suddenly it was Go Time. The spring hustle: breaking ground, spreading fertilizer, and working to get seeds in the ground before the rain arrived. And now, there’s nary a drop in sight and we’re turning on irrigation.

Ku Lor grows cut flowers down the road. She has no place to sell bouquets with the farmers markets closed, so I’m offering them for sale at the farm stand. $15 each, Venmo or Zelle for no-contact payment please! Details at the farmstand.

I know I promised to put together this first blog post last Friday, and I will do so in the coming weeks, but I have been hit hard by the overwhelming demand for CSA shares! It’s a good problem to have, and I’m so happy to be able to provide a clean, local food source for you all! But the paperwork and organization was overwhelming, and I didn’t have time to get to it until after yesterday’s deliveries were finished.

This is what CSA delivery looks like in our pandemic era. No need to touch anyone else’s bag.

A few notes about how the blog-letter and website work: I’m going to do my best to post an update every weekend, so you know what you’re picking up and how to use it. If you’re ever in doubt, email me, and use the sidebar (over to the right) in the How to Eat It column. I’ve assembled recipes and suggestions for most unusual and many normal vegetables. I also attach hyperlinks to many items in the list above, you just need to click on them. ALSO: If you want to be notified when I post new posts, sign up in the little box at the top left sidebar. You’ll get these updates in your email inbox!

The first heads of yummy lettuce are in the ground now, and growing nicely in one of the greenhouses.

We are busy planting and cultivating so many things right now… crops that we’ll be harvesting all summer long! I’m really excited about this growing season. We are all going to eat well! Personally, I’m looking forward to the first crunchy Sugar Snap Pea, juicy Cucumber, and sweet head of Butter Lettuce.

I plant the seeds for this broccoli in July, put the plants out in August, and then we wait. In April, if all goes well, we are rewarded with a bounty of purple deliciousness.

Yesterday I spotted the first bumblebee of 2020. She was hungry and working hard to take advantage of the beautiful, spring sunshine. How fitting that should would awake from her hibernation on the first day of Spring!

So much has changed in the world, on the farm, and in my home in the last 1-2 weeks, I’m working on an update. Farmers markets are closed, CSA is booming, and the weather has been amazing, so I’ve hardly been around my computer. But I want you all to know that I’m working on communications, when I’m not working up ground and planting seeds. And my farm plan is constantly evolving, day by day.

Just know this: the CSA will begin in just a few weeks, there will be deliveries to West Seattle if there is no farmers market, and we will all be eating delicious green things in less than 30 days.

Please be patient, and thank you so much for your ceaseless support of my farm and our local food system! A more detailed update is in the works!

Shelley

Things that survived the winter and want to be eaten! Brussels Sprouts, Savoy Cabbage, Candy Carrots, Beautiful Beets, Baby Daikon, and Komatsuna with Rapini (some folks got yummy kale instead).

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:

• Candy Carrots
• Baby Daikon
• Sweet Beets
• Brussels sprouts
• Savoy Cabbage
• Komatsuna Rapini or Siberian Kale or Purple Mustard Greens

COMING SOON: Spring!

It’s not every year that there’s enough overwintered produce to pick a bonus week for CSA members, but there was this year! I hope you all enjoyed the mid-winter treats!

The first of the overwintered Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants are starting to strut their stuff. Won’t be long now!

This February has been mild compared to the past two winters. Only a passing threat of snow here, and a week or so of frosty nights. No Snowpocalypse. No deep freeze. That bodes well for our earliest harvests as well as our earliest plantings.

All cleaned up and ready to plant! I can plant in the greenhouses months before I can typically plant outside. It’s much warmer and dryer inside.

Last year we weren’t able to start planting until April, a full month later than what we’re used to. But things are looking good for a mid- or late-March planting of greens, roots, and favas. Fingers crossed!

The willows are getting ready to become fireworks! In a few weeks, these fuzzy catkins will erupt in a brilliant burst of scarlet and yellow, as they get ready to blast their pollen through the cosmos. Willow pollen is one of the first important foods for baby pollinators, especially bumblebees. Pollen=protein.

I was able to get a few of the greenhouses prepped and planted this week, and I’ve started a good many flats of transplants. The season is definitely under way. The earliest crop of greenhouse sugarsnap peas are already several inches tall, and onions, celery, and lettuces are popping up. Inside I’ve got the first carrots, beets, and spinach seeded, as well as turnips and radishes. We’re just 5-6 weeks away from the first official CSA harvest of the season. And my first market day.

The Fertilizer program I’m now using on the farm: (from top) Gypsum (calcium sulfate) because plants need sulfur in order to metabolize nitrogen; Soft Rock Phosphate (calcium phosphate) from deposits of ancient sea creatures buried in clay deposits, it is broken-down slowly and utilized by soil organisms; Lime (calcium carbonate) is made up of the skeletons and shells of tiny, ancient sea creatures and balances the soil pH while providing essential calcium to soil organisms and growing plants; Dolomite (magnesium carbonate) is formed from the sediments of ancient saltwater lagoons; Azomite is mined from an ancient deposit of volcanic ash in Utah. Because it originated volcanically, it is high in a wide range of trace minerals; and last is the Chicken manure and feather meal fertilizer I use to provide necessary nitrogen to the growing plants and soil organisms.

There are still a few spaces remaining in the CSA for 2020. Click here for the CSA enrollment form. 

But if you’re not able or ready to jump in with both feet, I still have Mystery Box subscriptions as well. Click here for Mystery Box information.